Apparatus for stuffing down into quilts.



N'mezQJ/sa. PATBNTBD AUG. '28, 1906.

' W. H; ROBINSON'.

APPARATUS FOR STUFFING DOWN INT0 QUILTS.

APPLICATION FILED PEB.11.1902.

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PATENTED AUG. 28, 1906'.

W. ROBINSON. APPARATUS FOR STUFPING DOWN INTO QUILTS.

APPLICATION BILED PBB.11.1902.

z SHEETS-SHEET 2l EY HIS ATTRNEY UNITED STATES PATENT ortica.

WILLIAM H. ROBINSON, OF STINWAY. NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE W. M. HANES, OF WINSTON SALEM,

ASSIGNMENTS, TO HIMSELF, AND NORTH CAROLINA.

APPARATUS FOR STUFiFING DOWN INTO QUILTS.

Patentea'aug. 2s, 190e A To' all whom it may concern: f'

Be it known that I,W1LLIAM H. ROBINSON, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of Steinway, borough of Queens, city of New York, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful A paratus for Stuffing Down into Quilts, of w 'ch the following is a specification.

This application relates to an improved 1o apparatus for stufiing down into quilts. The object of the invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive apparatus whereby' an operator without unusual or special training may rapidly stuft` down into quilts and i 5 the like. To this end I provide a large bin in which the down is confined in bulk, and from the bin I conduct the down into a receiver from which it is blown through a nozzle into the quilt or the like, means being provided zo for shutting off the air-current during the movement of the down from the bin into the receiver and for closin the communication between the bin and t e receiver while the air-current is turned on. v 2 5 In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a central sectional elevation taken lon itudinally of the apparatus. Fig. 2'is a p an of the apparatus. Fig. 3`is an edge view of an unstufed quilt, showing the mouths of the 3o pockets into which the quilt-ba has been divided. Fig. 4 is a diagram s owing one style of quilting. Fig. 5 is an end elevatione-y of the apparatus.

In the several views similar parts are des- 3 5 ignated by similar characters of reference.

The down to be used in stufling a quilt is shown at A, lying upon the floor of a bin 1, the latter being preferably built or located upon the flooring of the loft over the Work# 4o room. The bin communicates by means of a vertically-arranged chute 2, which passes downwardly through a hole cut in-the flooring 3, with a galvanized iron box-like receiver 4 of oblong formation, its bottom curving or swelling downwardly. The length of the receiver may be four feet, its height three feet, vand its Atransverse measurement three feet, and it may be'sus ended from 4the end of the chute, the latter eing secured to 5o the overhead flooring by brackets 5. The

lower or discharge end of the chute is normally closed by means of a horizontally: rrunged shutter .6', fixed upon a long rodik,

which traverses the upper part of thereceiver and slides in perforation's formed in the sides thereof. The shutter fits snugly against the under side of the top of the receiver ,and is large enough to completely close the chute, so as' to prevent the passage therethrough of'ian air-current during the stung operation. The shutter may be slid from beneath the chute by means of a handle 8, provided upon a projecting portion of the rod 7. f

From the lower right-hander rear portion of the receiver projects horizontally an intake 9 for the air-current, said intake having a funnel-like formation and its larger end being attached to the receiver. In juxtaposition to the mouth of this lintake and inline therewith is suitably supported the delivery end of a pipe 10, which is connected to an apparatus for supplying an air blast or curi rent, which apparatus may be f any usual construction and need not be described. Between the adjoining ends of the air-supply pipe 10 and the intake. 9 is arranged anormally closed* vertical shutter -or 'valve' 171, which may be formed of sheet metal and provided with a circular orifice 12,` of a .diameter substantially equal to that V of they air-supply pipe. This shutter its snugly between the pipe 10 and intake 9 and may be guided in its vertical opening and closing movements by means of fingers 13, the latter being placed above and below the pipe 10 and se-v f cured thereto and entering vertical slots 14 cut in the shutter. i To the lower` end of the Ishutter is hooked the upper end of a vertical link 15, whose lower end is pivoted to the rear en d of a horizontal treadle 16, which exL tends tothe front or left-hand end ofthe apparatus and is pivoted betweeny its ends at 17 to a floor-bracket 18. A depression of the forward end ofthe treadle causes an elevation of the rear end-thereof, and an upward I movement is thereby communicated through the link 15 tolthe shutter :or slide 11, so that the orifice 12 is brought into register with both the deliverend of the pipe 10 and the receiving endo the intake9, whereby the blastof air from the pipe lO'is permitted to discharge into the receiver. It will be understood that the shutters 6 and llfshould not be opened' simultaneously, as the incoming current of air would`then escape upwardly IOO into the bin 1. Arranged oppositely to and in line with the intake 9 at the other end of the receiver is a discharge funnel or spout 19, which is similar in construction to the intake. Over the front end of the spout is slipped a tubular nozzle 20, the outer end of which may be inserted into' the quilt, which is designated as 21 and rests upon any convenient table '22. `Preferably the largeflat bag which is to form either the lining or casing of the quiltis divided by longitudinal parallel seams 23 into a series of deep pockets 24, each closed at one end and open at the other and the open end being large enough to receivey the tip of the nozzle 20. v

In operation the handle 8 is vpushed inwardly to open the shutter 6, and sufficient down for a quilt is permitted to descend into the receiver, whereupon the handle is pulled out and the shutter cuts off the supply. rlhen the treadle 16 is depressed, and through the link the air shutter or valve 11 is raised until the orifice 12 therein opens a communication between the pipes 10 and 11, thus admitting a supply of airA under pressure into the receiver. The incoming air rushes across the receiver and Vout through the spout 19, whence it is conducted by the nozzle into one of the pockets 24, which has been previously slipped over the end of the nozzle, as illustrated at Fig. 1. In its passage through the receiver the air takes up a quantity of the down, which is carried into the pocket of the quilt and there deposited,

the air itself escaping through the meshes of the cloth composing the bag. In a very few moments enough down lis thus blown into the pocket to ll it, whereupon' the treadle 1.6 is released, thus cutting off from the receiver the supply of air, and hence stopping the movement of the down into the pocket. The nozzle is then changed to the next pocket, the treadle again depressed, and so on, until all the pockets are lled. Should the spout become choked, the nozzle may be slipped off and then the down which has become packed in the spout may be pushed back into the receiver.

The entire series of pockets is stulfed within a very few minutes, and the expense of making the quilt is thus greatly reduced. Moreover, owing to the steady pressure of the air-current, the down packs with perfect evenness, thus not only economizing the down, but also improving the quality of the quilt. It Awill be observed that the down from the moment it drops or is swept into the chiite is under perfect control and is not liable to become scattered and Wasted, as is generally-the case where quilts are stuffedby hand. After the stuing is completed the open ends of the pockets maybe sewed up, and then the quiltmay be cross-seamed, as at 25, or tufted, or both. If desired, the nozzle 2() may be lengthened sufficientlyK to reachinto the' central portion of the bag, so

as to more readily fill a square or other shaped pocket formed in the center of the quilt.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. An' apparatus for stuffing down into quilts, comprising a bin, a down-receiver, an

intermediate chute, a shutter effective to close said chutle so as to prevent the passage of an air-current therethrough, said receiver connected to a blower independently of said chute, and a nozzle connectedto said receiver, a valve or shutter being provided independentjof said chuteshutter, for controlling the inlet of air-blast into said receiver.

2. The combination of a bin, a down-rei ceiver, a nozzle for the down-receiver, said receiver connected to a blower, and also having a connection independent of said blower, to said bin, and means for preventing the blast from entering the bin ,and for shutting the blast completely off when down is passing from the bin into the receiver.

Signed at New York, in the vState of New York, this 17th day of December, A. D. 1900.

WILLIAM H. ROBINSON.l Witnesses:

JOHN A. E. GALvIN, THOMAS C. PATTERSON. 

